Candle mold



Jan. 9, 1962 L. T. HOLDEN ET AL 3,015,847

CANDLE MOLD Filed Nov. 5, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 H 5 LA wmsA/c i wfif/vBY HARE) fins/(Ely WYM Ad-Loaf W Jan. 9, 1962 T. HOLDEN ET AL CANDLEMOLD 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 5, 1957 INVENTORS lflMPf/Vfg' 7.7/01.DEN I BY HARRY R. ASKEW wfivw h Mow aw 3,015,847 CANDLE MOLD Lawrence T.Holden and Harry R. Askew, Chatham,

N.J., assignors to Chatham Candle Corporation, Chatham, N.J., acorporation of New Jersey Filed Nov. 5, 1957, Ser. No. 710,595 2 Claims.(Cl. 18-27) (Filed under Rule 47(a) and 35 U.S.C. 116) The presentinvention relates to new and useful molds for making candles. The newmolds are especially useful in the manufacture of votive candles.

Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in parthereinafter and in part will be obvious herefrom, or may be learned bypractice with the invention, the same being realized and attained bymeans of the parts and combinations pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention consists in the novel parts, combinations and improvementsherein shown and described.

The accompanying drawings, referred to herein and constituting a parthereof, illustrate one embodiment of the invention and also show anarticle of the invention, and together with the description, serve toexplain the principles of the invention.

Of the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a preferred and illustrative moldaccording to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the mold shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURES 4, 5, 6 and 7 are other vertical sectional views showing themold in several stages of the process;

FIGURE 8 is an exploded side elevation of the mold and showing theseveral parts as they may be separated in the process;

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view showing a typical and illustrative candleas produced by the process of the present invention; and

FIGURE 10 is a bottom plan view of a candle as produced by the presentinvention.

Votive candles have customarily been producedby casting the wax in amold having piston-like bottom members, the mold having a wick hole pinsupported in it, and by filling the mold above its top. The excess wasthen scraped off to a level with the top of the mold, and the moldbottom was then pushed up to expel the candle. The wick was theninserted in the wick hole, and the non-burning end of the wick waslocked in place by tamping in a metal locking disc.

The molds of the present invention enable large-scale, economicalproduction of candles. These new and improved molds produce candleswithout using an excess quantity of wax, and at a faster rate than ispossible with the conventional molds. A primary object of this inventionis the provision of an improved mold, preferably adapted to the castingof a single candle and which can be rapidly filled, chilled, actuatedfor expulsion of the molded candle, reassembled and again serve for theformation of another candle, and which can preferably be used in largequantities in suitable equipment for mechanically handling the separatemolds.

In general, the molds of the present invention comprise a plurality ofinterfitting parts which are assembled prior to the casting operationand may be separated, the parts being formed of relatively thick metalhaving a high heat capacity, such as aluminum, and adapted to be fittedtogether to form a liquid-tight, opentop cavity which can be filled withwax and then immersed in a cooling liquid, after which the parts areseparated from each other in a predetermined order to United StatesPatent 'ice release the molded candle body. Thereafter they arereassembled for the formation of another candle.

Referring now in detail to the present preferred form of the molds ofthe present invention, each of the mold units preferably comprises arelatively large diameter circular base member 10 which has asubstantially flat bottom 12 which is provided with central cylindrical,chamfered aperture 14. On its upper face, the base member 10 is providedwith a generally cylindrical aperture 16, coaxial with the aperture 14,and with a lower annular face 18 which forms a supporting ledge for acircular member 20 which carries wick-hole forming pin 22, which extendsvertically upwardly from the member 20 and is firmly attached thereto.The circular member 20 is formed with a downwardly extending cylindricalportion which fits loosely into the circular aperture 14 to locate themember 20 and the pin 22 with respect to the base member 10.

On the upper face of the member 20, and located by the pin 22, which ispreferably round and snugly fitted thereto is a fiat disc-like member 24forming the bottom portion of the mold and having in its upper face ashallow mold cavity 26 of the desired shape. The disclike bottom moldmember 24 is easily slid onto and removed from the pin 22, and ispreferably provided with a smooth accurately finished upper edge so thatit may closely seat against another mold member which is to form thecylindrical side wall of the mold.

The remainder of the mold comprises a vertically extending member 28having a hollow cylindrical interior 30, with a larger cylindricalbottom 32 which is only slightly smaller than the internal diameter ofthe aperture 16, and is provided with a shallow cylindrical interiorslightly larger than the exterior of the disc 24, and is also finishedflat at 36 so that it may seat accurately with the upper edge of disc 24to form a substantially liquid tight seal between the mold parts 24 and30, thereby retaining the wax within the mold interior and laterexcluding water from the mold cavity.

The exterior of the member 28 is preferably somewhat conical, taperingtowards its upper end, and is also provided with vertically extendingfins 38 which increase the heat transfer surface of the mold member,thereby increasing the rate at which the molten wax within the mold maybe cooled. These fins 38 may each be provided with a slot 40 towardstheir upper end, so that the members 28 may be mechanically gripped whenhis desired to lift the members 28 from the molded wax, while the moldbottom 10 remains on a flat surface and holds the molded candle body inan upright position.

All of the mold members are formed of metal, and preferably of aluminumso that they are relatively light in weight and yet have a high heatcapacity and conductivity, thereby increasing the rate at which the waxmay be cooled. The amount of metal in the parts 24 and 28 is at least asgreat as is necessary to cause the wax to congeal considering theinitial temperatures of the wax and mold and the congealing temperatureof the wax.

The mold members 10, 20, 24 and 28 are thus all adapted to be easilyseparated from each other, and are coaxially or concentrically locatedso that they assume a uniform position, and the several parts arereplaceable by similar members from other mold units. In their assembledform the mold provides a generally cylindrical cavity having a shallowseparable, bottom mold member which forms the upper surface of thecandle, and a wick-hole located centrally of the candle.

The manner of using the molds of the present invention will be describedin connection with a description of the preferred process of the presentinvention, according to which the several parts 10, 20, 24 and 28 of asingle mold unit are assembled into the relative positions shown inFIGURE 3 of the accompanying drawings, and the fiat base 12 of thebottom member is positioned on a flat surface, or the mold may besupported on a conveyor pin which is adapted to fit into the cylindricalcavity at the bottom of the member 20.

In this position, and in case it is desired to make a candle having adesign of one color at the top fixed to a differently colored waxforming the principal portion of the candle body, a small amount ofmolten, colored wax 42 is poured into the mold until the lowermostportion of the cavity 26 is substantially filled, after which, as shownin FIGURE 4, the main mold cavity is filled with molten wax 44 of adifferent color. The mold may be completely filled, or only partiallyfilled, depending upon the desired height of the candle body. At thetime the filling of the mold is begun, the mold members are preferablyat room temperature, and as the wax is poured into the mold, itimmediately begins to congeal due to the relatively high heat capacityof the aluminum from which the mold members are made.

After the mold has been filled to the desired extent, the body of thewax shrinks due to the cooling effected by the mass of mold members 24and 28, thus leaving a slight cavity 48 in the upper end of the candlebody in molding position, as shown in FIGURE 5, and a small additionalquantity of wax 50 is poured into the mold so as to fill the depressionat the upper end of the wax body, while the wax is still slightly warmand has only partially congealed, thereby enabling the added wax to bondto the main candle body.

The mold may be then transferred to a bath of relatively cold water, asshown in FIGURE 6, the level of the water being only slightly below thetop rim of the mold member 28, and the mold members 10, 20, 24 and 28are quickly cooled by the water, due to the rapid rate at which heat istransferred from the mold to the water. This cooling action of the wateron the mold is usually faster than heat can be transferred from themolten or cooling wax to the mold, but the high heat capacity of themold continues to be an advantage, as the metal has cooled sufficientlyso that when the temperature of the mold and wax has been fullyequalized, the wax is fully congealed.

After the wax has fully congealed, and while the mold parts are stillassembled, small plate of thin sheet metal 54 having a central slottedaperture 56 and bent over corners 58 to form prongs is positioned overthe pin and pressed downwardly so that the prongs are embedded in thewax candle body, as shown in FIGURE 7.

Thereafter, the mold member 28 is withdrawn by being moved upwardly fromthe other mold parts and from the main congealed candle body, and laterthe bottom 4 mold member 24 with the candle body supported there aremoved upwardly with respect to the pin 22 and the supporting disc 20,thereby freeing the candle body from the pin 22. Afterwards, thefinished candle body with the bottom mold member 24 receive a length ofwickng which is threaded through the hole formerly occupied by the pin22, and the Wicking is secured in place by crimping down the slottedportions 56' of the sheet metal 54 so that the wick is gripped and heldin place. The finisehd candle may then be removed from the bottom moldmember 24, after which the several mold members are reassembled into theposition shown in FIGURE 3 and are ready for reuse in molding anothercandle body.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specificsteps, processes and combinations shown and described but departures maybe made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claims withoutdeparting from the principles of the invention and without sacrificingits chief advantages.

What is claimed is:

1. A candle casting mold comprising: a base member, a pin supportingmember having a wick-hole forming pin fixed thereto supported by saidbase member, a bottom mold portion having an aperture therein throughwhich said pin removably extends, a hollow mold member mounted on saidbottom mold portion, said hollow mold member, said bottom mold portionand said pin supporting member being removable from each other and fromsaid base.

2. A candle casting mold comprising: a base member, a hollow mold.member open at both ends, a bottom mold portion engageable with saidhollow mold member to close off one end of said hollow mold member, awick-hole forming pin fixedly attached to a pin supporting member andextending through said bottom mold portion and into the mold cavity,said hollow mold member, said bottom mold portion and said pinsupporting member being removably supported by said base member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSDeckert Sept. 13, 1938

